Following our initial communication with The Times, we engaged in further discussion with Lord Roberts of Belgravia, one of the signatories of the original letter to The Times. Below, we present the full communication, allowing readers to see the types of false arguments used to silence Muslim civil society groups that are critical of Zionism and Israel. The first email from Lord Roberts is a response to our letter to the Times:
From: Andrew Roberts
Sent: 08 August 2024 18:37
To: Massoud Shadjareh
Dear Massoud Shadjareh
Of course it’s anti-Semitic to use a five-year old article about payments from an American Zionist organisation to the loathsome Tommy Robinson to imply that these revolting events today, taking place in so many cities across the UK, are, as you put it, ‘enabled by their Zionist financiers abroad’. Surely you can see that?
Yours sincerely
Roberts of Belgravia
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From: Massoud Shadjareh
Sent: Friday, August 9, 2024 4:40 PM
To: Andrew Roberts
Dear Lord Roberts,
Thank you for your reply
Your understanding of our letter is clearly misguided. The statement was about the far-right being supported and enabled by Zionist individuals and groups, many of whom have openly financed the far-right. There is ample evidence of this, both old and new. Our statement was not, as you claim, that Zionist individuals and organisations are funding the current riots. Neither our letter to the Home Secretary nor to The Times makes the claim you attribute to us.
We trust now that you understand the situation you will be requesting your name is removed from the letter, and you will desist from promoting such scurrilous claims about us. Making this type of misrepresentative claim against Muslims is regularly used by Islamaphobes and racists to silence Muslim civil society organisations, and indeed, in my opinion, such Islamophobic narratives have fuelled societal divisions.
Yours sincerely,
Massoud Shadjareh
Chair, Islamic Human Rights Commission
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From: Andrew Roberts
Sent: 09 August 2024 16:46
To: Massoud Shadjareh
Dear Massoud Shadjareh
You clearly don’t even appreciate that the very phrase ‘Zionist financiers’ is itself profoundly anti-Semitic. Can you genuinely not see that? Think of the origins of the phrase amongst the Nazis and Bolsheviks, the insinuation that financiers are more motivated by Zionism than in making ROI, the assumption that Jews and Zionists are more attracted to finance than other races, and it hardly stops there. The phrase stinks of anti-Semitism, and I’m shocked that you have used it at this incredibly sensitive time for societal relations in the UK.
Yours sincerely
Andrew Roberts
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From: Massoud Shadjareh
Sent: Friday, August 9, 2024 7:02 PM
To: Andrew Roberts
Hi,
We never equated Zionism with Judaism, nor equated Zionism or Judaism with the finance sector. These connections exist solely in your febrile imagination.
The term “financier,” as used in the kletter, clearly refers to someone who provides financial or material support to another, and has nothing to do with their profession, as you falsely claim. The meaning is akin to supporters, backers, sponsors, funders or allies, not the more nefarious meaning you seek to attribute to us.
Nobody mentioned Jews and Zionists being more “attracted to finance,” which is another false assertion on your part, presumably aimed at stifling legitimate criticism of pro-Israel groups that collaborate with and support far-right groups.
What shocks me is the extent to which you will go to defend the actions and wrongdoings of Zionist organisations, making unfounded accusations of antisemitism to prevent the actions of pro-Israel groups and individuals from being scrutinised. You seem more interested in accusing Muslim groups of antisemitism than in holding accountable those Zionist groups who have worked with far-right organisations to normalise Islamophobia in the UK and Europe.
I am not sure this conversation is productive. As someone who justifies the murder of Palestinian civilians by claiming it is a “low ratio”, reducing their lives to a mathematical formula [https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2024-02-08/debates/C5588F3F-2786-4CD3-9D34-BC2E58878A05/details#contribution-11B80A01-BA50-48C4-AD70-DA00B2F2550C], it seems unlikely you are genuinely concerned about the anxieties many people, including Muslims and Jews, have regarding the relationship between pro-Israel groups and the far-right.
Massoud Shadjareh
Chair, Islamic Human Rights Commission
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From: Andrew Roberts
Sent: 10 August 2024 08:41
To: Massoud Shadjareh
Neither of the people mentioned in the article – Daniel Pipes who is an academic and Nina Rosenwald who is a think-tanker is a financier. They are both Jewish though. The idea that there are a group of shady Jewish bankers and hedge-funders who are financing the neo-Nazis is as absurd as it is dangerous, and you are perpetrating it with your phraseology.
Since clearly neither of us is going to persuade the other, I’m going to cease this correspondence.
Yours sincerely
Andrew Roberts
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NB: The Zionist funding and support of Tommy Robinson is uncontentious and has been the subject of publicly available reporting and research, including coverage by The Times of Israel, as cited above.
Anti-Muslim Crimes – Israel’s Hand in Instigating the Racist UK Riots
Why are US ‘pro-Israel’ groups boosting a far-right, anti-Muslim UK extremist?
Tommy Robinson and the Zionist Agenda: The Hidden Forces Behind the UK Race Riots
Revealed: the hidden global network behind Tommy Robinson
Lowkey EXPOSES Tommy Robinson’s Links to Israel
How do the anti-Muslim UK riots relate to Israel? with Asa Winstanley
